Child poverty ‘set to rise’

The number of families facing debt management issues may rise in the next decade, as a new report has predicted a marked increase in child poverty levels.

A study carried out by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggested the number of children in poverty will grow by 600,000 by 2020-21, with the number of adults in such a situation rising by 800,000.

It based this conclusion on a projection of real incomes falling by seven per cent, as well as the net effects of changes to tax and benefit policies.

While the new universal credit will reduce poverty on its own, other measures will have the reverse effect, the research found.

Overall, it forecasted the number of children in relative poverty will grow to 23 per cent of the total, with absolute poverty levels jumping to 24 per cent.

Such figures are in contrast with the targets set in the Child Poverty Act (2010), committing the government to reducing relative poverty levels to five per cent and absolute poverty to ten per cent by 2020.

Commenting on the report, Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Alison Garnham attacked the policies of the coalition government, saying the outcome predicted in the report shows that “under current policies, their legacy threatens to be the worst poverty record of any government for a generation”.

The report comes days after the launch of the new childcare support regime, with ministers stating an extra 80,000 people will be able to claim for it.

For the first time, this will include parents working less than 16 hours a week.

By James Francis